It was raining outside. Ginny Weasley
Potter peered out of the window and saw how the clouds seemed to have bulged
up. The sun had been pushed to the corner and would surely sink into the
horizon in a clandestine manner, with nobody witnessing its decline today. It
was nearly time, her husband should return from office any moment now.
She pictured his bedraggled form, water
dripping from his hat and he shaking off the drops from his hair. Ginny blushed
at the thought. It has been close to a year since she had married the Boy Who
Lived, but she still felt nervous at his presence. She suddenly recalled with a
chill how she'd run away at his sight in her first year at Hogwarts.
A few drops of rain flew in with the wind
and she trembled at their touch. The pinkish glow on her face made a brilliant
contrast with the grey background outside.
The rain gradually picked up speed and the
wind started to wail. She shut the window but the rain kept knocking at the
glass pane accompanied by the rattling of the wind. Ginny walked across the
room and sat beside the grate. The flame shivered, as if chilled by the
weather. She folded her knees and inched in closer. The warmth of the place was
addictive. She noticed the black currents of ashes that ran along the sides of
the walls. She had spent many an evening at this place drinking Butterbeer with
Harry. Perhaps today it would be another of such evenings. She blushed again,
overcome by the joy of the thought. Her checkered blue frock looked pretty on
her. She tugged at it as the temperature of the air dropped further.
There was a crackle suddenly and the fire
changed colour. She stepped back partially surprised but recovered soon as the
revolving figure of her husband began to take shape.
A face, grinning from end to end, rotated
before her in circles till it slowed down and her husband winked at her,
seemingly in a joyous mood. He clambered out of the grate, brushing off the
soot and let out a couple of coughs to clear his throat. Then turning around,
he held his wife in a gaze and gave her that long, knowing smile.
She returned the smile but her eyes
crinkled and she covered her face in shyness. Today, she was blushing unusually
and Harry noticed the change at length.
"Ginny, what's the matter?" he
said with a grin. "Anything the matter with you?" He surveyed her
with the admiration of a man in love. She failed to suppress a giggle.
"Oh Harry, don't look at me like
that." There was entreaty in her voice and seeing this Harry broke into a
chuckle.
"Hey Ginny, anything the matter,"
he shook off more soot off his hair and said with a giggle of sorts. Taking a
step towards her, he made an attempt to seize her beautiful arm but she
retreated babyishly and scurried out of the room.
"Ginny, why are you behaving oddly today,"
he called back after her.
"Am I?" she answered back in
between fits of giggles. "Okay listen to this then. You need to start
taking diaper lessons, Harry. I am pregnant."
Harry swam out of the room and seized her
in his arms from behind, planting a soft kiss on the back of her head. His eyes
danced around and the muscles of his face worked furiously. But the words he
spoke got drowned by the roar of the cloud outside. The long dark night had
just begun for them.
-Written by Ritesh Agarwal
3rd July, 2016
